Chivas USA Head Coach Jose Luis Real wasted no time in going to his bench early in Sunday’s match against D.C. United. Real started the game with two forwards up top for the Red-and-White but midway through the first half opted to bring on an additional midfielder in Eric Avila in the 28th minute. And the tactical move paid immediate dividends.

Avila, along with fellow midfielders Carlos Alvarez, Edgar Mejia and Bryan de la Fuente, began getting into range and possessing the ball well in the attacking third to begin generating solid looks at goal. Avila got off his best strike of the match in the 50th minute on top of the 18-yard line just right of the arc. Avila’s strike was on frame and it took a last-second diving one-handed save by United goalkeeper Bill Hamid to keep the shot from going in and putting the Goats up a goal.

A minute later, however, the Rojiblancos would not be denied, as Mejia sent his pass inside the arc which grazed off De la Fuente to set up Erick Torres for the eventual game-winner by the penalty mark and hand Chivas their fifth result at home in their last six. Despite coming off the bench in the last two matches, Avila is happy to contribute in any capacity that Real asks, as long as the results keep coming.

“It feels good,” Avila said after the match. “It feels good in the locker room – it feels good on the field and coming to practice every day. We still have a couple of games and honestly we’re just looking at the next game that comes forward.”

After being acquired in the off-season via trade, Avila has made 19 starts in 22 appearances in his first season with the Red-and-White while tallying a pair of goals and two assists. And the 25-year-old San Diego native has emerged as one of the club’s key players and part of the nucleus that has continued to grow together under Real’s new system.

“I think we were trying to find our way in the first couple of minutes. Coming in, I was just trying to help the team out as much as I could and going forward. I think any player would have came in and tried to help out as well,” Avila added.

“We changed it up a little in the first half. We’re used to playing differently and switching around. I was more of an outlet, coming and playing wide to try to feed [Torres] as much as possible.”

Avila and the rest of the Red-and-White will now look to extend their home unbeaten run when they square off against Western Conference foe the Portland Timbers this Saturday at the StubHub Center. The match will be the second of three meetings between the sides and will be televised in English on KDOC and in Spanish on MundoFOX 22 and will be broadcasted in Spanish on W Radio 690 AM.